Shakin & Bakin Foodie Blog

The Frugal Grocery Shopping Trip - 10 Money Saving Tips by Tammy Embrich

Making grocery dollars stretch is a challenge for most of us, and feeding a basic family of four with today's grocery prices can easily leave you broke long before next pay day. This is true for the average person trying to just get by and keep their head above water.

However, there are certain tips and tricks to make it a bit less challenging. Have a look below at my helpful advice to aid in making your everyday shopping trip more of a frugal one, and many more to follow.

10 Helpful Money Saving Tips For Your Grocery Bill

Tip 1 - If you make two or more trips to the grocery store each week, plan ahead and start going once per week, or even once every two weeks. You will save yourself both time and money by doing so. By making numerous shopping trips, you are unnecessarily more inclined to purchase extra items on impulse.

Tip 2 - You can save a bundle by taking the time to clip coupons. There are various places to find them in addition to your local newspaper. Maybe have your kids pitch in and clip coupons for you.

grocerysmarts.com
coolsavings.com
coupons.com
hortcuts.com
smartshource.com

Tip 3 - Purchase in bulk sizes rather than single items. Both Walmart and Target offers many everyday items in bulk form. Buying meats in bulk sizes can especially save you money. Shop and Save does have meat in big quantities. If you have an extra big freezer, take advantage of this and stock up.

Tip 4 - If you do a lot of entertaining and you serve alcohol often, purchase your favorite wines online. You can save considerably if you purchase wine in cases instead of single bottles at a time. Check out wineaccess.com and klwines.com.

Tip 5 - Leave your credit cards at home when shopping. I myself have learned the hard way about shopping with credit cards. If you are an impulse shopper and repeatedly use credit cards, you may be in for some serious debt issues. If you have racked up big credit card amounts, if at all possible, pay more than the minimum payments. If you don't, you will never get your debts paid off.

Tip 6 - Often times parents give their children over-sized food portions. It's a well known fact that most parents end up pitching approximately 30% of what's on their plate. Start serving smaller portions to your kids, you can always cook more if need be.

Tip 7 - Here's a saving tip for moms with babies. Make your own baby food instead of paying the big bucks for those expensive jars of baby food. Put your blender to work. There are tons of recipes online exclusively for babies.

Tip 8 - You often hear the phrase "don't go to the grocery store hungry." Well, there is definitely some truth to that! Just once, go to the store when you are starving and notice how hard it is to resist the urge to buy on impulse. It is best to go after your morning breakfast meal. If you eat breakfast especially early, you will also find the store less crowded.

Tip 9 - Ditch the name brand items. Most often the generic form of a certain item is just as good. In most cases with name brand items, really all a person is spending more on is the "name" and not quality.

Tip 10 - Consider shopping at your local dollar store for certain cleaning products, toiletries, and paper items. Sometimes you find some really good bargains. For example, 4 items for $3.

With little effort and a little more time and strategic planning, hopefully the tips above will help you live more frugally.

Article Written By Tammy Embrich

Tammy is an Internet marketer, article marketer, and ghostwriter. You can find more grandparenting and parenting articles, tips, and personal experiences, as well as photos and recipes at Grandma's Home Blogger Place